Srinagar, March 15: A two-day international conference on ‘Recent Advances in Business, Management and Data Analytics’ started at the University of Kashmir on Wednesday.
Vice-Chancellor Prof Nilofer Khan inaugurated the mega event, organised by the varsity’s Department of Management Studies (DMS), to acquaint young researchers and students with new frontiers of knowledge and advancements in varied domains of business, management and data analytics.
In her presidential address, Prof Nilofer said the boundaries of business and management have “vanished” with new technologies and AI-based tools which calls upon academics and students to pull up their shocks to meet the emerging challenges posed by AI to academia.
“The pace at which AI is literally capturing all aspects of life poses a new challenge to academics to redefine pedagogies and integrate technological advancements with the teaching-learning processes,” she said, congratulating the DMS for organising the conference on a very relevant and timely theme.
Keynote speaker Prof Javaid Akhtar from Aligarh Muslim University said the advancements in Artificial Intelligence are not any science fictions but have started to greatly impact the economy, industry and management education.
Referring to AI-based ChatGPT application, which has become a worldwide debate, Prof Akhtar said it could pass the Wharton Business School MBA Exam and US Medical Entrance Test.
“It’s such a sought-after tool that it took just less than 100 days for the application to reach a subscriber base of 100 million, while it took TikTok 09 months, Instagram 30 months, WhatsApp 42 months and Facebook 54 months for the same,” he said.
However, Prof Akthar, former Dean Faculty of Management AMU, said the ChatGPT failed to qualify the UPSC Civil Services Examination in India and that’s where the moral of the discussion suggests that “competence of a man is not judged by the answers he gives but by the questions he asks.”
“AI is the future of education. Today we have robots providing legal aid services to people. And this is where we need to prepare our faculty and students to meet these new challenges,” he said.
Former Head, DMS KU, Prof Khurshid Ali, who was a guest of honour, traced the establishment and evolution of the department and its achievements in academics and research.
Head DMS Prof Iqbal Hakeem introduced the theme of the conference, which is being attended by more than 200 scholars, researchers and business leaders in online and offline mode.
A souvenir about the conference and two books authored by Dr Tariq A Lone and Dr Mansoor were released by the Vice-Chancellor on the occasion.
Dr Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi delivered the vote of thanks and Mr Mohammad Ayub Shah conducted proceedings of the inaugural session, which was attended by senior KU academics and officers, including DCDC Prof Khurshid A Bhat. Later, Prof Khurshid A Bhat, Prof S Mufeed Ahmad, Prof Mushtaq A Darzi, Prof Bashir A Joo, Prof Mushtaq Siddiqui, Prof Khursheed Ali and Prof Riyaz Rainayee chaired different technical sessions during the day.
